Tortured
by gandalf537
Summary: What was going through Albus's mind while Scorpius was being tortured. Two-shot.
1. Part One

**Because I ship these two idiots too much. Two-shot. Anything in italics is a direct quote from Cursed Child. General disclaimer, I don't own HP. Sadly. Thanks for giving this a shot.**

Part One

Delphi takes out her wand and points it at Albus. " _Do your worst,"_ Albus sneers. Delphi looks at him, and turns her wand on Scorpius.

" _No!"_ Albus cries _._ Not Scorpius, anyone but Scorpius, torture himself instead, please, not Scorpius-

" _Yes, as I thought- this seems to frighten you more,"_ Delphi has an expression on her face that is a cross between amusement and proudness.

" _Albus, whatever she does not me-"_ Scorpius starts _. "We can't let her-"_ He is cut off by Delphi's cry of,

" _Crucio!"_

Scorpius yells out in pain. Anger blinds Albus as Delphi talks. Rage and fear for his best friend fill him, but Albus stays resistant. " _Crucio!"_ Delphi yells again. In that moment, Albus would have done anything, anything, to the stop the pain from his friend. When Craig dies the two stare, silent, and they're taken to the maze. Scorpius talks, and Albus wills him to stay silent, and Scorpius is tortured again. And Albus feels there's nothing worse, nothing worse than seeing his best friend in pain. And he would do anything, anything, to stop it.

When Cedric shows up and Delphi bound, Albus feels a great relief. At least for the moment, Delphi can no longer hurt Scorpius. He doesn't care about himself. One though echoes through his mind. Scorpius.

And he knows, from tales from his father, this is what his parents would call love.


	2. Part Two

**Again, thanks for reading! This part takes place sixth year.**

Part Two

Scorpius awakens to screams.

Two thoughts register in his half-asleep mind. Someone is screaming, and that someone is Albus. Scorpius scrambles out of bed and goes to his best friend.

"Mate, wake up. Wake up! Albus! Al! Albus! Wake up!" Scorpius tries with all his might (which isn't very much) to shake Albus awake.

"Huh? Wuzzagoinon?" Albus jerks up, screams cutting off abruptly.

"You were screaming in your sleep, mate, I thought you would've woken up half the castle if they weren't all gone for Christmas." Scorpius tries for a smirk but it ends up coming out as more a grimace.

"Oh...right. I was screaming in my sleep?" Albus looks slightly confused.

"Yes, very loudly. Is this why you've been putting Muffliato around your bed every night?" Scorpius asks, raising an eyebrow. "I hear you casting it."

"Um, yeah...sure…" Albus rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"You didn't want me to know?" Scorpius says, aghast.

"Erm…" Albus is sweating visibly now.

"C'mon, Al, I'm your best mate! How long has this been going on?" Scorpius demands.

"Fourth year…"

"Two years? Blimey mate! What were you dreaming about? Only you were yelling stuff like 'no' and 'stop' and my name…" Albus wants to laugh at the puzzled look on Scorpius's face, but he doesn't. This matter is too serious.

"Well…if you must know, I keep dreaming about that night with Delphi, on the Astronomy tower. When she was torturing you, because of me...and then, every time, she kills you and it's all my fault…" Tears begin to stream down Albus's face.

"No, no, Albus, don't cry, it's fine," Scorpius says, awkwardly putting an arm around Albus. "I'm fine, see look! You can barely see the scars!" This was the wrong thing to say. Scorpius glances around for help, but their dormmates are gone for Christmas. It took several weeks of persuading from Harry, Ginny, and Draco to get the two boys to stay, all insisting that they needed to see the castle at least once over the holidays.

"I know, it's stupid," Albus says. "I can barely imagine what it was like for you, but for me it was torture. I was perfectly to give up right then and there, but you insisted we didn't give in."

"What was going through my mind was that I was glad she was hurting me and not you," Scorpius says darkly. "But we're both fine now, mate, perfectly intact and un-tortured."

"You're right," Albus says. "It's stupid." He gets ready to settle back down. Scorpius turns back to his own bed, but Albus catches his arm. "Wait," he says. "It's stupid, but….could you stay 'til I fall asleep?"

"Sure," Scorpius says, a bit uncertain. He sits on the very edge of Albus's bed. Albus takes a deep, shaky breath as Scorpius awkwardly leans back on the headboard. He puts an arm around Albus and Albus leans back. Within moments, he's asleep. Scorpius sighs. This isn't so bad. This is actually quite nice. This is-

He thinks this is what his father would describe as love.


End file.
